A Happy Family

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving my whole family got together! We made lots of great memories before Dallin, Mom, and Dad go on their missions!

Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite meal all year... BBQ turkey, ham, mashed and sweet potatoes, veggies, orange jello, rolls, stuffing, cranberries, and lots of great desserts.

Grandma and Maddie checking on the turkey.

My cousin Doug and Amy & Kyle, and Grandma Evans also joined us for the feast.

Aunt Gayle started this turkey appetizer tradition.

Ava loved using her soon be cousin, Caroline's saucer.

We took turns driving Grandpa's scooter around the neighborhood.

What a happy girl!

Dallin and Doug set up a tight rope in the back yard. Everyone had so much fun walking, or trying to walk, across the rope.

Good job Macie!

Even Garndma did it!

LeeAnn, Maddie, Grandpa, Ava, Georgia, Anna, Macie, and Tanner waiting their turn.

Aunt Linnae gave everyone who needed one a hair cut.

And of course we always sit down and play games on the floor. Thanks for a great Thanksgiving Break!! Love you all!!

This year for Thanksgiving Break we made our first drive home - 18 hours in the car. It was actually a great ride, movies and junk food the whole way! The trip was packed with family and fun the whole time. We arrived the weekend before Thanksgiving so we could head up to Grandpa's cabin. We went with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Dallin, Aunt Linnae, Uncle Brett, and our cousins Jacob and Richie. The cabin is what I miss most about home. I have the best memories there...

Weeeee!!! Jacob and Georgia spent hours playing on the tire swing. When it got dark and they had to come inside for the night, their hands and clothes were completely black. This is a push from Uncle Brett - he gives the best pushes, so good that when Jacob came inside he felt sick to his stomach.

Uncle Brett giving a push.

The kids spend so much time collecting things and going on explorations. Richie and Macie found this cool red Caterpillar.

The 4 wheeler trails for the national forest are right off the road in front of the cabin. We always have great rides.

Everyone always wants to ride with Grandpa.

Grandpa always has a to-do list at the cabin, and the kids love to help. Richie and Macie helped mount the shark he caught this summer on the cabin wall.

Grandma bought the kids a gingerbread house kit - it turned out really cute! It only lasted one night though, the kids just had to eat it- yummy!

It was so fun to hang out with Linnae and Brett! (I wish I'd gotten a picture of Linnae's cute pregnant belly).

For family home evening we started a fire in the fire pit, made s'mores, and listened to Grandma and Grandpa share some of their tender mercies.

We ate lots of s'mores, so delicious!!

This was Uncle Dallin's last week before his mission, so even though it was cold he had to go skiing one last time. We all bundled up and had fun riding on the boat watching him freeze.

Way to go!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

The Happiest Place on Earth!

We were trying to get this Condo in California for a fun family trip in October, but they were full. So when they called us with an opening the first week in November, we dropped everything and left. It was such a great get away! This is a picture from out the balcony window - It was the most beautiful sunset!

The first day of fun was Wednesday, we got up and already to go to Legoland; only to the great disappointment that they are closed on Wed!! What?!! We felt so cheated! But decided to be happy and headed to the beach!

It's November so I really didn't think the girls would get in the water, but they did and it was SO much fun! Look at Macie's face, it was her first fall and the water was freezing!

They soon forgot about the coldness and played for over an hour.

Ok - he's a Hotty!

We brought sandwiches, and before we even opened them the seagulls were swarming, so we decided to share. ps i love the BEaCh! I was amazed at the black in the California sand compared to the white Gulf sand where we usually Beach.

Thursday was Disneyland!! This was my favorite part of the trip. We got there when it opened and stayed until it closed. This was the best week for going to parks. I don't think we waited in line for more than 20 minutes, and lots of them we just walked right on.

The first part of the morning my tire went flat! It was horrible we just had to push the stroller with one flat wheel the rest of the time.

This was after Pinocchio, Ava's first ride - she loved it!

Last time the girls got Pirate eye patches and earrings and this time they got pirate bandannas. Aren't they the prettiest pirate girls!

The last two days were spent at Legoland. My girls love it there! If you haven't been, it is really cool to see all of the amazing things built from legos, and they have lots of fun rides too.

Georgia and Macie love the roller coasters! I can't believe how brave they are!

The girls drove boats around this ride, and Georgia got stuck she was forced into this little area without reverse. She finally was helped out, and was such a good sport!

I can't wait until next time!!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Happy Halloween!!

Somehow I mixed up the order of all these Pictures...but that's okay:). We had such a fun holiday. Halloween night we went over and ate pizza with friends. It was a great way to start the night. Then we headed out to trick or treat. Macie loved that Brooklyn was also Belle.

Here's the crew... Asher was a dragon, Macie and Brooklyn were Belle, Georgia was Anistasia, and Sadie was a Tinkerbelle.

Mmmmmmm...we came back and ate all the candy we wanted! That night we let the Dad's put the kids to bed and Julee, Courtney and I headed to Wal-Mart and stocked up on Halloween decorations for next year. I just had to go and get some decorations after hearing all month from my girls that our house is so boring. I should probably do this after each holiday we got some great deals.

This Halloween Grandma drove with Aunt LeeAnn to help her move here!! They had quite a drive down, but finally made it safe and sound. We couldn't be happier to have her here!

This year Macie dressed up as Princess Belle and Georgia was Princess Anistasia! The dresses were so much fun, and the hair sparkles topped it off.

Ava was the cutest strawberry ever! The Julee was so nice to let us borrow the costume. I'm surprised we got such a great picture with the stem on her head though; she cried most of the time it was on.

I was able to go and help out at both school parties this year. I love being in their classrooms!

Georgia's class is studying the body so all of their crafts were a different part of the body.

I love the pumpkin patch! This year we stayed here and went to the fair and picked out a pumpkin for everyone.

We had some friends over and carved two of the pumpkins! They turned out so cute. I think they get a little better every year.

The kids picked out all of the insides. My girls love getting their hands all messy and playing with the seeds. This year we cleaned all of the seeds and baked them in the oven. They were actually really good.